When the Towers Sang
by ClockworkSky
Summary: The Singing Towers of Darillium. You know the rest.


**Author's note: ****Not the first writing about this... I know. But I wanted to write about this. And when I finished writing, I thought that isn't it stupid to write something for yourself when someone else could read it? I mean I don't know many people interested in Doctor who, who I could show this. So here we are. Please note that this is my second fanfic ever... And first Doctor who fic. And I'm Finnish. So If you could kindly inform me about grammar (etc.) mistakes. Thank you!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor who. It would be a lot worse series if I did. Luckily Moffat is a genius.**

The Doctor was standing quietly in front of the Tardis door. Behind him in the depths of the control panel, or perhaps above it, the time machine hummed softly like she had always done. He was frozen in place, but was not angry or alert, but sad and shocked. The eyes looking at the door saw nothing and at the moment there wasn't anything in the universe which could have drawn his attention to itself. Without focusing his gaze the Doctor took a deep, trembling breath, gathered his self-control and stepped out. It was time.

It was weird that she had a house now. He was used her to be in the prison. However, the building was now in front of him and it made him feel sick. It was a beautiful evening, and he walked slowly towards the black door in the white wall. Golden number four was screwed into the door. The doorbell was white and at first the Doctor didn't see it on the wall. He almost felt disappointed when he noticed it, partly hoped that he hadn't find it and he wouldn't need to press it. But he did. The door opened immediately and he saw River's smiling face.

"Hello, sweetie", she greeted him and then stopped. "Have you cut your hair? And since when you have rung the doorbell?"

"No River, I haven't. Cut my hair." The Doctor smiled at her. "And since you didn't come to the Tardis before I managed to even land her properly, as you usually do, I had to ring the doorbell."

"You never land her properly. You still leave the brakes on. And I still think that you've done something with your hair."

"But I haven't. And anyway, that's not… why I'm here."

"Okay, what then?" She walked past him and on the way touched his arm. The Doctor turned and followed her into the Tardis. It was so wrong, so wrong to look at her and know that this would be the last time he would take her with him. He sighed when the door closed.

"Is something wrong?" River asked. She was standing in front of the stairs that led to the control panel.

"No, of course not! Why would something be wrong?" At the moment it was a little easier to smile at her and he was going to take the advantage of it. It would get a lot more difficult, and he knew it. She glanced at him suspiciously but turned and walked up the stairs.

"Professor River Song", he said and watched her.

"Are you seriously alright, Doctor?" River asked again.

"I'm always alright."

"No you aren't and you know that."

"Yes I am. But now, Professor Song, we have a trip to take." He run up the stairs, stopped in front of her, and taking the back of her head into his hands, he kissed her. She groaned in surprise but relaxed quickly. River's lips were soft and she smelled good. They broke apart and the Doctor looked at her. She was so beautiful.

"You're acting strangely today", she said.

"Can't a man kiss her wife?"

"Normally it's me kissing you."

"Well, my turn then."

River frowned but smiled at him.

"Do you mind wearing that wonderful dress you had a couple of weeks ago? Your weeks I mean. It suits you really well, wonder how well it actually fits." He could try to keep the conversation in ordinary subjects. Ordinary, normal, happy subjects.

"You gave it to me."

"Did I? That explains a lot." She rolled her eyes but turned, walked to the corridor and disappeared. The Doctor looked after her. No, really? Was he going to be like this all the night? He would cry later, he knew it. He would, but until then he could as well take all fun out of it. He turned on his heels and rushed upstairs, where he, after three rooms and furious digging, found a black tuxedo. Good. He would need a top hat. This suit definitely needed a top hat.

The Doctor found River waiting in the control room. She was indeed wearing that golden and green dress the Doctor had brought to her a long time ago. So long time ago…

"I definitely wear this too often, I really shouldn't always just do what you say… That is new." She pointed the Doctor's suit.

"It isn't. Well, it is, if you think of it from your point of view but from my point of view it's about 239 years old, or actually, if I count that one time when – "

"Okay I get it", said River. "Now can you tell me where are we going tonight?"

"I was thinking… I'm taking you to Darillium." Saying it felt terrible. It made this seem so real. But he kept on smiling.

"Darillium? Really? Oh sweetie that's wonderful! You've been promising that for so long."

"Yeah… But I'm going to need a hat. A top hat." Normal subjects.

"A top hat? Seriously?" She walked around the control panel and started to prepare the Tardis for the flight.

"Top hats are cool."

"As long as you don't have a fez, everything is fine."

"Oi! Stop it! And you're not going to fly." He rushed to her side and pushed her gently out of the way.

"Sweetie, you never let me to fly."

"You can fly her when we're going back."

"Really?" River stepped aside and let the Doctor grab the controls. She leaned forward and wrapped her arms around his shoulders from behind.

"Thank you", she whispered into his ear and kissed him softly on the cheek. The Tardis landed. River ran to the door with almost girlish enthusiasm.

"Come on, Doctor!" she yelled from outside and the Doctor followed her, but not before he had found his top hat. When he stepped out, he realized that this wasn't Darillium. The sky was almost black and there were small dark bushes. Behind a little forest there was a curious, great rock covered in roots which belonged to a massive tree.

"River! Come back! This isn't Darillium, this is… we're on Calderon Beta."

"Doctor?" She appeared from behind a small cliff. The sea roared somewhere near them.

"Um, were in the wrong place. Let's go back."

"See? You should've let me fly the Tardis."

"You were distracting me!"

"Oh, shut up. By the way, haven't we been here before?" She headed towards the Tardis and before the Doctor had time to stop her, she was gone already. _Right. So this is happening now_, the Doctor thought and followed her. He found River checking the lamp on top of the Tardis. He saw her looking confused and when she stepped back into the time machine, he ran after her.

"No, River, wrong Tardis, I'm parked around back!" He entered the Tardis and saw River staring at him standing before her. "Younger version."

"Two of you! The mind races, does it not!" she said and looked at the man before him in a white jacket.

"Come on, we'll be late", the older Doctor rushed her. He didn't want to stay for long. And if he remembered correctly, there were sontarans outside. She turned to leave.

"He's taking me to the Singing towers of Darillium, he's been promising for ages!" she shouted happily for the younger Doctor and walked out. Silence.

"The first time we met her", the younger Doctor said then and looked at himself standing in front of the doorway, "at the library when she – "

"Died, yes", the Doctor said. He didn't want to hear more.

"She said the last time she saw us was at Darillium. Is that now?" Of course the younger version would know. He had known from the beginning that this would be their last trip together. His face was serious and sad at the same time, when he responded.

"Spoilers. Good luck tonight." What would he give to live that night again, the night everything was still ahead.

"You too." He turned and walked to the door, closing it behind him. He sighed. He wishing good luck for himself. It had been good back then, now it felt just empty.

"Doctor?" River's voice reminded him of where he was.

"Yes, River, let's go." He took her hand and they walked back to their Tardis.

"How come you were there?" River asked and looked at the Doctor.

"It was just coincidence. Now let's go before we come across with you."

"I'm here too? Why didn't you say?"

"Now let's just go." They entered the blue box and the Doctor quickly run to the controls. He wanted to get them out of there, even if he wasn't quite sure why. Was it jealousy? Can you be jealous to yourself? Maybe you can.

"Where did you say we were a moment ago?" River asked. She was standing next to the Doctor, who at the moment was busy with getting the Tardis to the right place.

"Calderon Beta." He turned down a big lever and they landed with a hollow thump. What a lovely noise, that was.

"Calderon Beta? But that was… That was the first time you took me somewhere!" The Doctor looked at her with his friendly eyes and smiled.

"Yes it was. But now, dear wife, would you mind?" He offered River his hand who took it and smiled at him. They walked down the stairs and stepped out of the Tardis.

They were standing on a planet River had never seen like before. The ground looked like it was made of dark frozen sand and there were different colour of thin, crossing stripes; black, dark blue, copper and golden. The sky was very dark, but in the middle it turned bright turquoise and revealed the Milky Way. The place where they were standing was next to a beautiful range of mountains. On the sky, there were three moons and one of them was so big that there would easily fit at least twenty Earth's Moons and it half disappeared behind the mountains.

"Oh, sweetie, this is beautiful", River gasped. They walked toward the mountains hand in hand and arrived to a door. It looked like it was curved on the stone itself, but when the doctor knocked, it opened and revealed a corridor. The walls were glowing softly a warm blue light. The floor was completely white and when they stepped on it, River could have sworn that it sighed quietly.

"Are we the only ones here?" she asked the Doctor, who shook his head.

"No, the habitants of this planet are on the other side of the mountains. They are living around the towers. But we're going to have much _better_ view, we are going on top of the mountains."

"With what?"

"With this." They stopped in front of a recess in the wall. There was a low railing in front of it, and a gate. The Doctor opened it and let River go in first, then stepped in after her and closed the gate.

After couple of seconds the floor beneath their feet started to rise up.

"But why someone has built this here then", River asked.

"I might have been involved…" She laughed.

Lift, that it was, took them up and up, until it stopped. The Doctor and River were in a corridor again, but this time it wasn't so long.

"River Song, are you ready?" asked the Doctor and smiled, lowering his hand on a door handle. River smiled back, that flirty smile of hers and he opened the door. She gasped.

Behind the door was a large balcony, attached to the mountain. On the both sides grew a tree with twisted trunks and silver, almost transparent leaves. Before the balcony opened a breath-taking view. Now when they were on top of the mountain, the third moon too was completely visible. The sky looked even more amazing than it had been before and on the horizon there were thin, bright red clouds. Down on the ground was a town, and where the houses ended, stood two great towers. They were glowing softly, on the same way that the walls in the corridor had been glowing.

If these towers were completely made by nature, it was the most remarkable thing River had ever seen. They were so perfectly shaped, that it was difficult to believe that no living creature hadn't had any effect on them. The shape was still so unique that it would've taken the greatest imagination to invent something like that. Both towers were surrounded by some smaller rock formations.

"Well, what do you think?" The Doctor was grinning at River's amazement.

"This is… Doctor, this is beautiful. I…" She shook her head when she didn't find the right words. "Thank you", she whispered.

They walked to the railing and the Doctor wrapped his arm around her waist. River leaned her head on his shoulder.

"Why haven't you took me here before?" she asked.

"The time wasn't right yet", the Doctor replied and River wasn't quite sure what he meant.

"But wait 'till they start singing. Should be any minute now", he said and sounded so bouncy that River had to laugh. But true, it didn't take long until the towers started. It was very quiet at first, but soon it got louder. The sound was amazing, like voice of a whale, but more human and more melodic. There were more layers too. All the time there was that very low humming sound and sometimes, very high notes.

They stood there for a long time, just listening the towers and looking the view.

"Do you ever get bored to this?" asked River then, still looking into the horizon. "Just taking people to see things you've already seen over and over again."

"Never. Never ever. And to be honest, you're the first one ever to see this place with me. Last time I was alone." The Doctor's voice was quiet.

"How come? Isn't this something you should show to everyone?"

"No, River, just you." River turned her face so that she could see him and pressed her lips softly on his. The Doctor wrapped his arms around her and kissed back. After they broke apart River looked at him. She saw something, which she hadn't expected.

"Doctor… are you crying?" The Doctor winced and blinked his eyes, trying to force the tears back. Unusually bright starlight made them glitter.

"Sweetie, what's wrong?" She turned him to face her properly, but he looked away.

"Tell me. What is wrong?" The Doctor shook his head, but River lifted his chin gently up. His eyes were so sad, she couldn't remember a time when he had looked so completely heartbroken.

"Has something happened? Is somebody hurt? Have you lost somebody?"

The Doctor's hands trembled and he walked to a stone bench, which was on the balcony and sat down. He put his hat next to him. Tears were now streaming his face and he covered them with his hands. River sat next to him and hugged him tightly, stroking his trembling back.

"Please, Doctor, tell me."

"I can't." His voice was just a whisper.

"Why?" She was starting to worry now. What was going on?

"Please, River, I just can't tell you." River sighed and stroke his cheek, wiping the tears away. The Doctor turned a little and buried his face into her shoulder, wrapping his arms around her tightly, like he was scared that she would disappear if he let go. River kissed his forehead softly. Sometimes, the Doctor was like a child, afraid and lost. His life was so hectic and dangerous, and complicated. She hugged him tighter.

After a while, the Doctor lifted his head and looked into her eyes. The look was so intensive, that it felt like his gaze could just melt her. His eyes were still red, but it seemed that he had himself under control now.

"River Song", he said quietly, "My River." He fingered her hair and leaned to kiss her. The kiss was more passionate now, almost desperate, and River could taste the salt on his lips.

They stayed on the balcony together, until the sky turned completely black. The towers were still singing, they would sing the whole night, but the night of Darillium is long and the most beautiful moment was over now. They walked back to the Tardis in silence, hand in hand.

"I should probably get back now", River said and turned to the Doctor who was standing next to him. He had let her to fly the Tardis, like he had promised. River had changed back to her normal clothes. He tried to smile at her, but it felt so unnatural that it hurt. But he hoped that it was good enough. _You have to be brave, just one minute_, he ordered himself. _Just one minute…_

"You know, I hate to leave, but I'm going on a mission tomorrow, I need to pack my stuff", River said. "We're going to a library. The biggest library there is. Actually it might be quite exciting. I've always loved books." _Please, do not say that. I don't want you to say that. Please stay at home, don't go to the library. Please stay with me_. But it was impossible, and he knew that. He felt tears burning his eyes and he forced them back.

"In that case…" the Doctor said and took something from his pocket. "I want you to have this." He handed her a screwdriver, much like his own. His hearts were racing now, she would leave soon. The clock was ticking. The clock was always ticking… Even he couldn't escape it forever. S_top it, focus now_, he reminded himself. She looked at him.

"I can't take this."

"River, I want you to have it." The screwdriver should have everything it needed now. Her life depended on it. _Her life… No. Stop it._

"Thank you, sweetie." She took the screwdriver and smiled at him. "Now I really must go. Good night and… thank you." She gave him a soft kiss on the lips and leaned back. The doctor opened slowly his eyes and looked at her, his eyes so sad again.

"Just promise me you'll be all right", she said. There was a worried tone in her voice again.

"I always am." River shook her head laughed. She walked to the doors and stepped out.

"River!" the Doctor shouted before the door closed.

"Yes, sweetie?"

"I…", he hesitated. "You know… you know I… good night, River." Her face broke into a smile.

"Good night. I love you." And then the door closed and she was gone. River Song was gone. The Doctor looked for a moment at the door, hoping that this was just a bad dream. He managed to fly the Tardis away, but when the sound of her breaks faded, his kneels failed and he sank on the floor.

"I love you too", he whispered in the quiet control room, tears coming back to his eyes. "And I'm so, _so_ sorry."

The Tardis hummed softly, and on the floor the sobbing man drifted slowly off to sleep, in a blue box, floating in space.

**I'd be happy, if you would tell me if this is rubbish or not. (Translate: review, please!)**


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